England's Road to the World Cup

The draw

The draw for the group stage is set to be held at the Costa do Sauipe Resort in Salvador de Bahia on December 6, 2013.

England are likely to miss out on being seeded for the draw due to Fifa's recent announcement that the world rankings from October - due for release on 17th - will be used instead of standings published nearer the draw date.

Roy Hodgson's squad are currently ranked 17th, meaning they will be placed in a pot with other non-seeded European teams.

This will see the Three Lions drawn to play against one of the top-eight ranked sides - currently Spain, Argentina, Germany, Colombia, Italy, Belgium, Uruguay and hosts Brazil.

Fifa's reasoning behind the decision is to avoid teams participating in the play-off ties ahead of the draw being handed an advantage due to the higher points haul up for grabs due to their two further competitive games.